Emergency-chain for cars.



W. W. HUSTON.

EMERGENCY CHAIN FOR CARS.

APPL-ICATION FILED SEPT. 3| 19I5.

Patent-ed May 23, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

^ W. W. HUSTGN.

EMERGENCY CHAIN FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3| 1915.

Patented May 23, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

yso'

improvements Ihandling cars.

wILLLAivrV W. HUs'roiv, or EAGLE GROVE, IOWA.

EMERGENCY-CHAIN Eon cAns;

Betj known that I,.W1L13IA'M HUs'roN, afiitize'n; ofthe' United' States', residing at Eagle"Grove', in the"` countyof Wright and State' ofIoW'a, have invented certain'uznew and usefulAk Improvementsin Emergency; Chains' for Cars, of"l which the following is s afspeciication';

,My .invention relates to new. and kuseful in emergency chains for Heretofore", chains for this purpose have-been formed in`= a single length and to` stand the strain andeserve thepurpose" for which theyl areintended must be so heavy andnnwieldy lthat they canv bewappl'iedl only by two or more 'mem As these chains are commonlyl employed toconnect adjacent freight cars,-in' case the draw' bar, ordinarily connecting the cars, has pulled out; they have been-y unsatisfactory- This is largely dueto the'fact thatfunder such circumst'anc"es-thev majority of the train crew lia-veto be sent toithefront' and rear of the trainto signalany possible trai-ns approaching and asuflicientnumber of m'enfforthe purposei of chaining-the cars together` is not always available.- A v The primary object of m-yin-ven'tion consistsv intheiprovision-of an emergency cha-in formed" in two parts, each of- -which may be readily coupled to the axle of a car and to l j theother.-

released. f.:

' In thisconnectifon, rfurther object y ofy my inventionl consists irl-providing` -each chain`,at one end, with an attaching member iiijluding apair of pivoted-y jaws` arranged, when closed, to form al ring for engagement aboutthe car axle and at its other end a chairilink engaging grab hook,the chain being ,so .secured .to lthe, attaching member that@ when subjectedto` strain, the jaws of siclvimemberwill be,swungtoY closed positi and cannot be opened until the's'train is still further object of my invention consists in lt'jrovidirg. a structure of the above rdseribed characterv which is simple, readilyassembled and I readily takenapart lcase of necessity for repairs, due to br'e'flfig. f y @ith these and other objects in..view, my invention willbemore fully described, Villusspecification 'or Letters raten/c.

Patented' May 23, 191e'.

Afppiiication mdsep'tember s; 1915; Asemi N. 48,888:

which are attachedto andv for-m a part of this application.l n

In the drawingsz'N Figure 1fis a'4 fragmentaryl sectional view of theadjacent ends of two freight cars, showing my emergency chainv in use, the chain being shown in elevation; Fig; 2 is a perspective view of one ofl the ymembers making upl my twok part emer` gency chain; Fig. 3' is a side elevation of one.v of the 'attaching members, the position ofits swinging jaw, when in open position, being shown in dotted lines; Fig; 4 is a transverse-vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig.y 3, looking in the direction` of the arrowsg Fig; 5- is a fragmentary longitudinal section' taken on theline 5-5 of o-rrespond-ingy andv like parts are referred to in the 'following description and indifcatedfin allr the views of the drawings by the f same reference" characters;-

Thepreferred embodiment ofl my invention, as illustrated in the drawings, includes a" pair/of cha-in members, each` indicatedr as a' whole by the numeral 10 and each including an atta-ching member-11, chain l2" and gra-b hooflr- 13. As both of the chain members-- are identicall inconstruction, a description of one will suiice' for both.

Referring more particularly 'to Figs.v 2 to 5 of the drawings, it will be seenl that the attaching member llinclude's a'shank por tion 14terminating atlone end in a downwardly curved jaw 15 and adjacent its 'other end" and upon its upper face with an upstand-ing lug or extension 161. The shank, adjacent the jaw, is also provided withan upstanding bearingshoulder 17 the upper face of which is concave transversely,v as shown at 18; for ay reason which will be later apparent. The. attaching j member` further includes a pivoted jaw 19, the body portion 20 of whichr isfreduced in` thickness to seat in a recessformed by correspondingly reducunthreaded and a washer employed insteadr Preferably,-the jaws 15 and 19 are'so shaped that when closed they form a ring proportioned to engage relatively snugly abou't'the axle of a car and the free end of thejaw`15 is preferably formed with a llongitudinal notch 25 to receive a longitudinal rib -or shoulder 26 formed upon the free end of the other jawwhen the jaws are brought together. This interlocking rib andshoulder prevents any likelihood of independent lateral movement ofthe j awsunder strainy and,

consequently, relieves the Vpivot pin or bolt 22 of. considerable strai-ng f The rear end of the body portion 20.01l the swinging jaw.19'fis' formedvwith an upf standing extension 27 .corresponding to the extension 16 ofthe shank of the4 other jaw y but locatedat a somewhat higher .lever and both -of these `extensions are formed with bores 28 extending parallel tothe axisv of the shank of the attaching member when the devicey is in use. A pin 29 is .passed through the bore of the extension 27 and is locked against movement towardthe Vextension- 16 by asplit pin 3() which-retains i' a nut or. washer`31, as thecase maybe'. The

opposite end of this `pin 29 is provided with an enlarged head 32 having anopening to receivela ring 33 and one end-of the chain 12 is passed through 'the'bore28' ofthe ex`- tension 16 and yattached by one terminal link tothe eye33. The terminal linkY at the end ofthe chain is attached toa corresponding ring'34 which is passed' through theeye 35 of the grab hook 13 and the bill portion of this hook, as clearly shown in the drawings, is Soarranged ,and proportioned that the hook may be made to straddle any link of the chain and'preventslipping of the chain through the-hook.

Tofinsure ak clearv and-*accurate und'erstanding of my invention and vits use, I have illustrated it as employed yin connecting two freight cars 36 which lhave become uncoupled due to the pulling Aout of4 their draw bar. When so employed, the attachover the axle37 when strain is exerted upon the 'chain 12.to swing the jaw19 into Aen.-

gagement vwiththe jaw 15 andfsoA connect the attaching' member to; the axle; When The each chain 1s separately, applied,

both attaching members have been thusconnected tothe axles of the cars to be joined, the free endsof the chains 12 vare brought together and connected in any suitable man'- .ner'by one or both' ofthe grab hooks 13.

As will be seen by reference to Fig. 1. of the drawings, `the Shanks of the attaching members are of `such length that the person applying them need not crawl under the car and is therefore,to a great extent, protected. from any likelihood of'injury which mlght otherwise result. should ,either of the? cars start astheentire operation y of'connecting' the cars can be done by a inan's'tanding'between them. ,f The f'chains proper, `l12lfare necessarilyofsuch .weight that when kdrawn to move .the jaws'. into engagement with each other they will lcontinueltohold the jawsin such engagement untilr.manuallyr `loosenedv14`or..this-reason, onelmanimay first attach one'ofathe 'chainsto oneaxleand then Athe other'chain; tothe other axl'ef and then connect .fthe V.free ends Vof the chains."

By locating theextension 27 somewhat above the level of 'the extension 16,A the chain exerts a greater 'strain upontheiljaw 19,

.tending to hold itfin engagement-'w'ithlthe jaw 15Y andfwtendfto' tiltrthe free endofthe shank `of vthe attaching? member upwardly somewhat inorderv that thel upper jaw 15 may be the jaw taking upthe-greater portion "ofthe strain instead of havingithe strain applied to the extremeendsoflthe jaws. f This extension '27 l also, due-to-4 its abutment against the shoulder 17, servesv as a meansfor limiting{thefswingingof the n jaw 19 'toward theJ 'jaw15 and-^therefore`- ,prevents any likelihood of bending such j aw outof (shape under undue closingv strain.

n grooved upper lface' 18 ofthe shoulder 17 permits turning'of the lpin29 whenV the device isinfuse and these pins may, therefore, swivel in` ,their bearings j tojqp'ermit propel?'DflQI`1'111lation of the chains 12.".

Although' I have illustrated and described the emergency chain asv employed f orfcoupling freight cars', it'w'ill ofcourse be understood rthatfitiscapable of `awide'ra'nge of use ,for other purposes, particularly, in machine shops and s'witclryards andithat I do not wish to be" limitedv either. toits usefor to the specific details lof Having thus; described: the `invention,

what is elaimed as new is? l j Y 1. An .emergency chain includinganat'- taching member having pivotally; Connected vjaws adapted to enga,gev.` about ganfaxle, .a

construction described.l

flexible draft elementconnected "to the atf tachin'g member vand "adapted to fcoiact, with the j awsto hold them Y together, `and a hook carried `by the freeend of the y draft element.

2. An emergency chainfforcoupling cars including lalpairl of axley engaging members',

eachl axlek engagingjmember including" La' shank terminating at-one end na'curved ssii jaw, a second curved aw pivotally connected to the shank and cooperating with the first to engage about an axle, a sleeve formed upon the free end ofthe shank, and chains provided at one end with hooks and at the other ends passed through thevsleeves and secured to the bodies of the pivoted jaws.

3Q An emergency chain for coupling cars including a pair of axle engaging members comprising pivotally connected jaws adapted to engage about an axle, chains connected to one of the'jaws, hooks carried by the free'ends of the chains, and means co-acting between the chainsy and other jaws, whereby strain upon the chains will hold the jaws in closed position.

4. An emergency chain including an attaching member having an elongated shank terminating at `one end in a sleeve and at the other in a jaw, a second jaw pivotally connected to the shank adjacent the rst jaw and adapted therewith to form an eye when in closed position, a chain connected to the body of the second jaw and extended through the sleeve, and chain engaging means carried by the end of the chain.

'5. An emergency chain including pivotally connected jaws adapted in closed position to provide a closed ring, an upwardly directed shank extending from one jaw, a

copies o! this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing Vthe laterally directed elongated shank extending from the other jaw, sleeves formed upon the free end of the second shank and upon the free end of the first shank, a retaining member swivelly mounted in the second sleeve, a chain passed through the first sleeve and connected to the retaining member, and chain engaging means connected to the chain.

6. An emergency device for coupling cars including a pair of axle engaging members, each axle engaging member including a shank terminating at one end in a curved jaw, a second curved jaw pivotally connected to the shank and coperating with the irst to engage about an axle, and means connected to the axle engaging members and adapted for adjustable connection to each other.

Commissioner of Patents.

i Washington, D. C. 

